Men’s Golf Places Fifth at Graeme McDowell Invitational

Wednesday, September 30

Birmingham, Ala.

8 AM ET

Coastal Carolina University

Graeme McDowell Invitational

Tyler_Gray_at_General_Hackler_Championship_1

9/30/2020 4:30:00 PM | Men's Golf

Final Results (HTML)2020 Graeme McDowell Final Results

Coastal Carolina had three student-athletes finish in the top 15

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Coastal Carolina University men's golf team had three golfers in Tyler Gray, Gavin Noble, and Zack Taylor finish in the top 15, as the Chanticleers shot a third-round 294, +6, to finish the 54-hole tournament in fifth place overall at 864, even par (284-286-294).

Coastal finished behind host UAB, who won their event with a 54-hole score of 853, 11-under par, Georgia Southern (858, -6), ULM (861, -3), and Middle Tennessee (863, -1).

The Chants finished in front of Louisiana (867, +3), South Alabama (883, +19), Augusta (883, +19), Troy (884, +20), and Southern Mississippi (899, +35).

"We just played bad today from start to finish," a frustrated head coach Jim Garren said. "I think the effort was great and that we had a nice plan. The execution wasn't very good and we just never righted the ship."

Gray carded his third-straight round of 72, even par, to finish the two-day event in a tie for 11th-place overall with a 54-hole score of 216, even par. Despite an up-and-down round that saw four birdies, 10 pars, and four bogeys on Wednesday, the junior finished the tournament with 12 birdies, four on each round, and 31 pars.

Matching Gray with a 54-hole score of 216, even par, and an 11th-place finish was Noble with rounds of 69, 71, and 76. Over his third-round 76, +5, on Wednesday, the second-year Chant had 15 pars, two bogeys, and one double-bogey. For the tournament, he totaled nine birdies, all of which came on nine different holes, to go along with 37 pars.

One stroke back of Gray and Noble was Zack Taylor, as the fifth-year senior shot a second consecutive round of 73, +1, to finish in a log jam at 15th at 217, +1 (71-73-73). Taylor turned in four birdies on Wednesday to finish his season-opening event with 10 birdies and 36 pars.

Connor Newton placed in a tie for 24th overall with his 54-hole score of 219, +3, which included a final round of 73, +1, to go along with his first-day scores of 76 and 70. The junior registered 10 birdies and 31 pars over his two days of play.

Fellow junior Brady Hinkle and sophomore Seth Taylor each shot a final-round 76, +4, on Wednesday to conclude their play this week in Alabama.

Hinkle finished with rounds of 72, 75, and 76 to place in a tie for 30th overall with a 54-hole score of 223, +7, while Seth Taylor carded rounds of 75, 82, and 76 for a 54-hole score of 233, +17, and in 58th-place overall. Hinkle matched Noble for a team-high 37 pars to go along with six birdies, while Seth Taylor tallied 33 pars.

As a team, Coastal was second in the field with 205 pars and posted a par-5 scoring average of 4.90, -9, for the tournament.

Coastal will return to the links for competition in two weeks at The Grove Intercollegiate hosted by Middle Tennessee at The Grove Golf Club in Murfreesboro, Tenn. on Oct. 12-13.

For complete coverage of CCU men's golf, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMGolf (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.